Dragon Quest X Beta Details Emerge

Only those in Japan can participate.

Dragon Quest X is going in a much different direction than most of its predecessors. While DQIX did incorporate multiplayer elements, DQX is going even further in the direction of being an MMO. The Wii (and Wii U) game is without a release date as of yet, but a beta is planned to iron out any kinks before Square Enix unleashes the game (complete with subscription fees) in Japan.

A Japanese website filled with information on the beta has just been launched. Gamers can begin applying for access beginning sometime in mid-November, although you must live in Japan and have a free Square Enix Members account to be considered. You'll also need a Wii that can connect to the Internet and be willing to actively participate by submitting bug reports and things of that nature.

Those who are accepted will be sent a beta test kit for free containing a beta disc, USB memory stick (expected to be at least 16GB in size), and a manual.

Applicants will be chosen based upon the information they submit as opposed to a first-come, first-served basis. More testers will be added as the beta goes on, and all of those who participate will get the Dracky cap seen in the screenshot above as a thank-you.

All five of the game's tribes can be chosen from when creating a character. Much of its story will not be accessible in the beta, although some of the prologue and a number of bosses will be included.

An official launch date for the beta itself has not yet been announced. Barring any leaks (and realistically, those are almost certain to happen), don't expect to hear any first-hand accounts from beta testers -- they will not be allowed to discuss the game.

Just after DQX's announcement in early September, an official website mentioned a "usage fee" for the game which turned out to be the subscription mentioned above. At least as of right now, this is only true of the game in Japan. Its presence is not a guarantee other regions will be subjected to the same monthly fee; Monster Hunter Tri carried a subscription in Japan that gamers in North America and Europe didn't have to pay.

That may again prove to be the case. In Japan, it may not be a significant detriment in Japan -- series' co-creator Kouichi Nakamura seems pretty upbeat about the direction the series is taking and we know Dragon Quest is serious business over there.

Comments (12)

I"ve seen this movie

This is the one where DQ 11 is somehow different from the series roots, but garners some praise. Then, 12 is hugely different, making some fans abandon the series forever. 13 will be another MMO that will take forever to come out, then be terrible, get revamped, and suck worse. Meanwhile,the Rocket Slime series starts strong, but by the third the story makes no sense and you're replaying the events from the first game that you find out is a computer simulation. The Monsters games will chug along, changing the gameplay styles drastically from one game to the next, but always maintaining the same atmosphere, and will draw a modest following of loyal, albeit subdued, fans.

Not sure

I hope it's not just a case of being able to play the game solo but in an MMO world, like you can do in most any MMO but I'm afraid it will be. If that is the case I can only hope that DQXI is being developed already, instead of having to miss an entire dev cycle until the next DQ with a true DQ adventure, begining to end. For me, fetch quests, loot gathering, and dungeon raids aren't what I want from a DQ game. I like the humor of the story, the character interactions, and the feeling of actual progression along a story arc that I just don't get with MMOs.